Ok..So I quit ...no more stretching for moi

[envybeauty]

I HAD to perm! Literally had to..... my hair was breaking something awful. I was at 14+ weeks and HAD to quit. Last week I got a dominican blow out and she kept saying...."mami you need a perm...not conditioner....perm!" mind you, my lady will not perm my hair unless i need it ...they don't perm or color just because you want it. you have to beg them to do it if you don't need it.

Breaking something awful.....Long strands of hair just falling out in the shower. A lot of them too..I probably did more harm than good with stretching

I don't even see the length that I was hoping to get. I mean after 14 weeks...I should have had an inch and a half...at least! Nope...

 

[MzLady78]

I stetched my relaxer for a while, (but not on purpose, I hadn't found a salon in AZ) and I think it destroyed my hair. I had finally gotten a lot of growth from wearing braids and weaves on and off for 2 years. I was so pissed!! Now I gotta start all over.

I don't think stretching works for everybody.

 

[SUPER SWEET]

I'm not a long strecher any more either I would stretch for 16 weeks and have less and less hair growth each time.
Well atleast now you have an idea of what is your best stretching time will be.

 

[InnerSoul]

I agree that when stretching your hair, it will tell you how long to stretch. My limit is 3 months... and I probably won't go longer than that...give or take a week or so afterwards.

 

[HoneyDew]

I can't do it either! I tried, Lord knows I did. But, my hair just did not like that. I could tell, too. When I finally relaxed, I could tell that I had too much hair loss.

But, I think it may be largely because of my layers. If my hair was not so layers I don't think the ends would tangle as much as I get more new growth.

 

[peacelove]

yeah I think it's just different for everyone. I go 8-9 weeks. I will probably be able to do 10 once I grow out my front breakage, but for now, that is about it.

 

[csmoot]

Im a newbie but I cannot stretch beyond 8 weeks so I have just know that I have to get a touch up that week. And that 8th week it is impossible to comb my hair so I just put it up and just constantly put conditioner on the new growth.

 

[CAPlush]

You don't necessarily have to return to frequent relaxing, you can alternate between 8 week and 12 week stretches and I bet this would do your hair a lot of good as well. I don't believe going beyond 12 weeks would ever be helpful for my hair personally but it helps to go that long because I won't ever overlap much at all. I think as long as you are going longer than you typically would go, even if it's just 1-2 weeks, it will benefit your hair in the long run.

 

[mw138]

The longest I ever stretched was 16 weeks. Never again. My poor hair was shedding like crazy. Now I stick to 12 weeks. My hair seems to do much better that way.

 

[Lady Esquire]

Today is week 11 for me, and I have been experiencing a lot of shedding and breakage. So, I will definitely relax next week. My last stretch was 16 weeks, and that was so so.

I may alternate between 10 and 12 weeks, the next two stretches, to see which one my hair prefers. It is all tiral and error.

 

[Misseyl]

I stretch 18/19 weeks at a time and after 10 weeks I wash every 2 weeks and don't comb until wash day. I love to stretch because when I use to relax every 6/8 weeks I had nothing to show for it. Now that I relax later, I'm beginning to see length. I know stretching is not for everyone but for me, its the only way to go.

 

[Tamrin]

I gave in yesterday and relaxed , my hairline was breaking, deep contioning and moisturizing are a must since I have a permanent color Im trying to grow out.

 

[Blackoutzangel05]

I believe that it is a trial and error. I have not relaxed for 17 weeks and since I am transitioning I don't plan on doing it again. But I have read that some times its just about learning your hair and that is what you are doing....

 

[HoneyDew]

I stretch 18/19 weeks at a time and after 10 weeks I wash every 2 weeks and don't comb until wash day. I love to stretch because when I use to relax every 6/8 weeks I had nothing to show for it. Now that I relax later, I'm beginning to see length. I know stretching is not for everyone but for me, its the only way to go.

I think I could stretch if I could do this. If I did not wash was hair often and did not manipulate it I could stretch longer. But, I can only seem to go 3-5 days without washing.

 

[janeemat]

Girl, do what works for you. I did my first 12 wk stretch in Feb. I must say my hair was much thicker and healthier. So, I do know that I can stretch 12 wks. But I might add, that I treated my hair like silk and I would dare not let anyone near my hair. I paid careful attention to the two textures and stayed on top of my moisture/protein cond. I may try to add 2 wks to this stretch, but I will not push it.

 

[Gisselle]

I can't do it either. The longest I can go is 12 weeks.

 

[envybeauty]

How does anyone go beyond say 10 weeks without breakage? My breakage was when I washed my hair and long strands would come out something ridiculous.

Does anyone have a proven method to get beyond that type of breakage? I tried using protein conditioners, using moisturizing conditioners, using both mixed. Nothing worked. I had seriously long strands coming out every time! It was scary....whether I waited two weeks or two days to wash my hair.

 

[Choklatekiss79]

I think the important thing to remember is that there is a big difference between breakage and shedding. Shedding is normal and healthy. If you are seeing long, complete strands of hair, then it most likely your hair going thorugh its normal shedding process not breaking off.

 

[Whimsy]

You've got to listen to your hair. Ultimately, we've got to do what's best for our hair, not what's popular on the boards.

In the past I was relaxing every 4 months. (16 weeks) and since October I stretched for 6 months. I'll probably go back to my 4 month stretch to avoid the excess shedding and tangling of the roots though.

 

[intellect_sensual]

I think stretching is good, but maybe you should not try to stretch for a certain number of weeks, but instead try to stretch until you start seeing alot of shedding then relax. I tried stretching for 12 weeks but I experienced alot of shedding. So this time I went just 9 weeks and my results were great and I didnt loose much hair. My hairstylist just kept complimenting my hair and telling me how healthy it was.

 

[gymfreak336]

I can't do it either! I tried, Lord knows I did. But, my hair just did not like that. I could tell, too. When I finally relaxed, I could tell that I had too much hair loss.

But, I think it may be largely because of my layers. If my hair was not so layers I don't think the ends would tangle as much as I get more new growth.

You have def. tried. I can't do it either.

 

[IMFOCSD]

I stretch 18/19 weeks at a time and after 10 weeks I wash every 2 weeks and don't comb until wash day. Now I love to stretch because when I use to relax every 6/8 weeks I had nothing to show for it.that I relax later, I'm beginning to see length. I know stretching is not for everyone but for me, its the only way to go.

I must agree.

I only stretched 15 weeks and I think the the best thing to do when stretching is to use Scurl, frequent CoWashes, and bunning/baggying. But like the other ladies are saying stretching relaxers does not work for everyone.

 

[thiccknlong]

This is why you must LISTEN to your hair first
and TRY things on your hair to see if it will work
I've done what you did, but i learned my lesson

not getting a perm when u are 'pose to is a VERY VERY expensive lesson to learn.

you WILL lose hair. And alot of it !

I don't " stretch" much , only go almost to the limit my hair will accept before it starts breaking

The last 2 wks before the perm, I comb once a wk, and then comb the new growth days before the perm

other than that, I perm every 8 wks with a mild perm. the mild perm is one way to underprocess, and doing it every 8-10 wks instead of 6 wks is anohter way.

 

[seraphinelle]

I've been re-evaluating my situation. I'll see how I'm doing at the end of this week (8 weeks) and then again at 10 weeks.

I want to try and do it every 3 months. It saves me money and I like the thickness.

 

[Naphy]

Stretching seems very hard for lots of people. Since I've joined this board, this my first 3 months stretch > I'm currently 11 weeks post relaxer, and I plan to relax this week and to re-do my braids. I don't have experienced any breakage yet, so I'm very happy.

 

[Malice]

I like to stretch, but I MUST incorporate braids at that 8 to 10 week mark to help me go longer than that. It makes sense that frequent manipulation of your hair in two different textures will cause breakage. Braids allow me to go a nice 4 to 5 months, sometimes 6.

 

[Nella]

I know before I came to this board I was getting relaxers evey four - six months (2-3xyears). I was talking with my mother and she said maybe that is why I experienced so much shedding/breaking. I have reason to think that she is right. Currently I'm almost 12 weeks and I think from now on I will be getting a relaxer every 10-12 weeks because, I have noticed that the closer the relaxer is from the last one the better result is what I get. I'm just hoping that by sticking with Silk Elements it is going to do me some good. I don't know if this is the relaxer for me just yet but, I haven't tried anything else. I'm getting ready to buy the boundless tresses this weekend and Keracare products hoping that this will end all breakage and promote healthy, growing hair. It looks good so far I won't lie. I just think that by now my hair would be growing rapid but, they may have something to do with the shedding and breaking.

Let me know what you all think.

 

[Blackoutzangel05]

From this board I have learned a lot. My hair is not breaking its shedding. Ladies please know the difference. If your hair is shedding, longer strands sometimes have the white tip on them, that is normal and stretching or not stretching is not going to change that. Breaking is smaller hairs and that can be repaired. I have been confusing the two. So here I am 17 weeks post and although I am experiencing some breakage, its mostly shedding.

I am thinking about stopping my transition and getting texlaxed at the end of the summer but even then I will probably do that process according to what my hair can take. Someone mentioned that maybe it shouldn't be about weeks and just paying attention to your hair. I believe that is what I am going to do. When my hair starts breaking, its time to texlax but before then its going to be all about loving and caring for my hair!

 

[sowhut]

I stretch 18/19 weeks at a time and after 10 weeks I wash every 2 weeks and don't comb until wash day. I love to stretch because when I use to relax every 6/8 weeks I had nothing to show for it. Now that I relax later, I'm beginning to see length. I know stretching is not for everyone but for me, its the only way to go.

Ditto, stretching allows me to see some progress. My last stretch was 16 weeks and it wasn't so bad. When I begin to see shedding i do a henna treatment. It stops the shedding immediately, unfortunately thats the only real benefit i get from henna.

 

[amwcah]

I'm doing my first official stretch. I have stretched before unintentionally due to pregancy. I think this stretch has come to an end. I was striving for 6 months, but I don't think so! I have about 4 inches of new growth in the crown, but where is the length? I just took out my braids and began bunning this past weekend. I was expecting much more length since I barely lost any hair during my transitioning. I noticed that I have hairs sticking up on top of my head after bunning. My hair has broken at the demarcation line. Also, I can just pull my pony tail and experience long strands of hair coming out with and without the white tips from the roots. Therefore, I conclude I have breakage and shedding. Should I relax this weekend or try to repair the damage first?